Winches hyd vs. elec

[flatpoint]

The more I look into a hyd. winch, the better it looks. Yea, I understand if you got no engine, you got no winch, but I dont find myself crossing alot of water out in the desert. Is anyone running one?

[mrchips]

I also thought about a Hyd winch, but decided to go electric,as most of the time you only need an assist to get yourself up and over or through an obstacle, and Hydraulic seemed a little overkill. If your engine wont start(No hyd power) then I think you have bigger problems than if you can winch or not.Only person I know who runs Hydraulic is an instructor that runs Badlands offroad adventures.

[maddmike]

about to buy a winch

i'm going through the same dilemma right now, ahve done a lot of reading and research, and i'm really thinking of going against the grain and running hydraulic for the following major reasons:

1. electric winches are cheaper but still require the addition of a second battery, wiring kit, and giant electrical cables to really be a reliable "recovery" device. seems they're great for short to mid size pulls, which may be fine for your needs. most of us in SoCal don't deal with wet conditions (mud or snow) or go out on their own, but if i encountered a situation where i needed to winch myself 100' up a muddy hill i'd be reluctant to trust an electric. remember that an electric uses more power than the alternator can replace into the battery, so you're still SOL on a long pull or if you need to pull several vehicles over the same obstacle.
2. hydraulic winches don't require any maintenance once they're installed. electrics recommend a rebuild once every year or two to keep functioning properly.
3. water + electric winch is OK unless you do it too much. out in cali where we are immune to water or rain you're fine, but once you venture out of here you'll find a lot more water and mud.

I have a friend with a hydraulic winch on his YJ that said he could go wheeling by himself, get stuck in mud, and winch himself 200' out of the woods no problem, and then go home and pull trees out of his backyard for the rest of the afternoon.

however, you will probably find most people that run electrics are satisfied with them also and there are also a few benefits to them, such as their line speed, ease of use, and reliability.

just mind the winch specs, i'm now realizing that most hydraulics require the replacement of the power steering pump and addition of a power steering fluid cooler to really work properly, although MM just told me on the phone that they released a brand new hydro that is a bolt-in for the TJ and works with the stock fluid flow and pressure.

you'll also hear a lot of people say that a hydro won't work without the engine running, which is not 100% true if you have an aux pump, but as long as you carry a hand winch and other basic recovery gear you can still get yourself out, and you're probably in deeper doo-doo at that point anyway.

your call, this is just my 2 cents.

[Jerry Bransford]

I'll disagree that a second battery, bigger cables, alternator, or any of that stuff is needed for an electric winch so it can be a "reliable recovery device". In fact, no one I know (most of whom would be considered very hard core) who actually uses their winch all the time on some very tough trails bothered with any of that.

To say an electric winch needs any of that to be reliable is BS in my humble personal opinion. To me, that is just the typical BS heard from those pushing hydraulic winches... which is a fast dwindling bunch if you ask me or have noticed Milemarker's dwindling hydraulic winch sales... which is why they were forced to add their line of Chinese-built electric winches to stem their continued growing loss of marketshare.

[blkTJ]

i'm going through the same dilemma right now, ahve done a lot of reading and research, and i'm really thinking of going against the grain and running hydraulic for the following major reasons:

1. electric winches are cheaper but still require the addition of a second battery, wiring kit, and giant electrical cables to really be a reliable "recovery" device. seems they're great for short to mid size pulls, which may be fine for your needs. most of us in SoCal don't deal with wet conditions (mud or snow) or go out on their own, but if i encountered a situation where i needed to winch myself 100' up a muddy hill i'd be reluctant to trust an electric. remember that an electric uses more power than the alternator can replace into the battery, so you're still SOL on a long pull or if you need to pull several vehicles over the same obstacle.
2. hydraulic winches don't require any maintenance once they're installed. electrics recommend a rebuild once every year or two to keep functioning properly.
3. water + electric winch is OK unless you do it too much. out in cali where we are immune to water or rain you're fine, but once you venture out of here you'll find a lot more water and mud.

I have a friend with a hydraulic winch on his YJ that said he could go wheeling by himself, get stuck in mud, and winch himself 200' out of the woods no problem, and then go home and pull trees out of his backyard for the rest of the afternoon.

however, you will probably find most people that run electrics are satisfied with them also and there are also a few benefits to them, such as their line speed, ease of use, and reliability.

just mind the winch specs, i'm now realizing that most hydraulics require the replacement of the power steering pump and addition of a power steering fluid cooler to really work properly, although MM just told me on the phone that they released a brand new hydro that is a bolt-in for the TJ and works with the stock fluid flow and pressure.

you'll also hear a lot of people say that a hydro won't work without the engine running, which is not 100% true if you have an aux pump, but as long as you carry a hand winch and other basic recovery gear you can still get yourself out, and you're probably in deeper doo-doo at that point anyway.

your call, this is just my 2 cents.

do it dude. go against every shred of good advice you've ever been given. best of luck. :cactus:

[steelman]

Maddmike,

Based on your thread over at BBS, I'm surprised that you're still leaning toward the hydrolic wench. :confused:

(has your friend run out of trees in his back yard yet?)

[Kodiak Spirit]

Most of the winch having people I know have the harbor freight version of the mile marker chinese red army winch, single red top battery and no worries. I have seen these winches work, heck I have had Paul hook his winch sideways to my jeep out in truckhaven trying to pull himself outta tight spot, and all he did was drag my jeep at full lock for about 30' ! he tried to burn that thing up all night but it just worked. no problems.

I know that the old jeeps with the PTO, its a no brainer to hook up the hydro winch, I would say it would be silly to put a 'lectric winch on a vehicle with a PTO.

does yer jeep have a PTO? jest my :2:

[RAT]

Mike,
Go with new technology. Hydraulic is old school. Electric is the way to go. I'm still running my Superwench off my stock battery, no probs.

[steelman]

Mike,
Go with new technology. Hydraulic is old school. Electric is the way to go. I'm still running my Superwench off my stock battery, no probs.

Just the ocassional fire! :fire: :omg: :hide:

How ya doin' Kurt?!

[flatpoint]

Is the "hi 9000" Mile marker a Chinese knockoff? (700.00 winch). I would think a hyd. winch would be more reliable,only because of the heat issue.It looks like(elec. hyd.) both have goods/bads. Mile marker clames this winch works fine off the stock pwr. steering pump, but I realize they are trying to sell a product

[mrchips]

90 % of the rigs out there are running electric winches, so I believe that the company's making electric winches have got to be doing something right, just an observation,,,,,,,,

[RAT]

Just the ocassional fire! :fire: :omg: :hide:

How ya doin' Kurt?!

Bwaaahahahahaaaa... You so funny
It was just a tiny fire, and the battery held tough. It's still starting the Heep and running the wench like a brand new Optima

I'm doin fine, and your self?

Kurt

[maddmike]

Based on your thread over at BBS, I'm surprised that you're still leaning toward the hydrolic wench.

i'm still worried about nuking my battery on a long pull.

that being said, i think my comparison chart of pros vs cons just evened out now that i hear commentary suggesting no need for a second battery.

we'll see...but since my last post the arrows may be turning towards electric. i don't mean to avoid "following the crowd", but i'm hearing a lot of happy warn owners out there and it's making me think again and again that maybe that's the avenue i should go down. i just like to know the options and make sure that i'm buying something i'll be happy with.

besides, i need something to use my fire extinguisher on every once in a while, right?

[Jerry Bransford]

i'm still worried about nuking my battery on a long pull.

I've yet to have that happen to me or anyone else I've been wheeling with. Not that it CAN'T happen in theory but it's sure uncommon.

[Jerry Bransford]

Bwaaahahahahaaaa... You so funny
It was just a tiny fire, and the battery held tough. It's still starting the Heep and running the wench like a brand new Optima

I'm doin fine, and your self?

Kurt

That was your rig on Sledgehammer that caught on fire?